Exhibitions

Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia

October 14, 2017 – February 6, 2022

Image: Detail, the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room from the Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photograph: 2010. Objects: Tibet, China, and Mongolia, 13th-20th century, Mixed media, Gifts and promised gifts from the Alice S. Kandell Collection.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC

B1, Gallery 22

See on Map Floor Plan

Visitors can step into a Tibetan Buddhist shrine, linger at a Sri Lankan stupa, travel with an eighth-century Korean monk and discover remarkable objects in Encountering the Buddha. The exhibition draws upon the museums’ collections of Buddhist art from Afghanistan, India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan. By exploring new narratives and technologies, Encountering the Buddha invites visitors to reconsider Buddhist practices and concepts of beauty.

The Freer|Sackler gratefully acknowledges the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation as the exhibition’s lead sponsor. The exhibition features the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room from the Alice S. Kandell Collection.